updated 06:04 am EDT, Tue June 11, 2013

Sony Vaio Red Editions feature hand-finished paintwork

Sony has revealed five special edition versions of the Vaio Duo 13, Vaio Pro 11 and 13, and Vaio Fit 14 and 15. The new limited Red Edition notebooks follow just a week after the launch of the standard versions and are available in 'extremely limited quantities.' At this stage, the new models are headed to Japan and Europe with no announcements forthcoming for the North American market.

According to Sony, its engineers explored 'countless numbers of pigment combinations and painting techniques' to get the finish just right on both carbon fiber and aluminum models. To get the finish up to the standard it was aiming for, Sony says it used multiple layers of paint with some actually hand-polished. Each notebook is then given a final protective UV coating, which adds further shine to the finish.

Each of the new Vaio Red Edition notebooks feature the same internal specifications as the models already headed for the North American market, meaning that most come with a choice of Intel's new fourth-generation 'Haswell' Core-series chips.